Top 7: Worst Playoff Sweeps of the 00's

Another decade list!  Over the past couple of seasons, there have been some devastating losses, sweeps at that, to teams whose fans would all make the top five of most rabid in major league baseball.  After considering those few, it came to mind that there have been quite a few horrible losses by teams with high expectations, and nearly all of them were sweeps.  In fact, of the most devastating playoff losses by teams with enormously high playoff expectations, just one—the 2001 116-win Mariners—did not end in a sweep (they lost 4-1 in the ALCS).  So here are the worst sweeps of the 00s.  There are two classic basketball examples too—the 1995 Orlando Magic being swept by the Rockets, and the next year’s Magic being swept by the unbeatable Jordan Bulls.

7. 2006 Dodgers
The Dodgers last won the World Series in 1988.  They made two playoff appearances in 1995 and 1996, and were swept both times.  The ’04 Dodgers made the playoffs, but ran into a juggernaut, and still had the great feeling of actually winning a playoff game for the first time in 16 years (thanks to Jose Lima of all people).  So there were high expectations going into the ’06 NLDS, thinking that they were finally ready to get over the hump in the NLDS, and they were destroyed by the Mets.  Some of the most classic Dodger Blues material of all-time happened after this series.  A little vengeance—they are responsible for #3 and #1 on this list.

6. 2002 Diamondbacks
Curiously, there are several teams that won the World Series, only to be swept the following year.  People who look for correlations would say that the team had a “letdown” and “wasn’t as hungry,” though that kind of defeats the fact that they made the playoffs to begin with.  It’s one of those “one or the others”: if they win it again, it’s because of the experience.  If they lose, they were no longer hungry.  Joe Morgan logic at its finest.  Another cousin of that is the long layoff—if the Dodgers win the NLCS this year, the long layoff helped them.  If they don’t, they weren’t sharp.  It works beautifully—analysts are never wrong!  Anyways, the 2002 D-Backs had Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, probably the two  best pitchers in the NL, and did not win a first round game.  Sounds familiar…###MORE###

5. 2009 Red Sox
Red Sox fans have enjoyed the probable team of the decade (unless the Yankees win this year, then there is definitely an argument), but it’s hard not to still get disappointed at losses in the playoffs.  Listen to many Cowboys players from the early to mid 90s, and they will say that they should have had more Superbowls.  When you have the tools, you need to take advantage.  What made the Sox’s ’09 loss so bad was the final game—one of the best closers on the mound, and he gives up THREE runs.  The give-up-three-runs-to-lose-it game is underrated because you usually feel so confident up by two in the final inning…even 2009 Phillies fans may feel that way after two straight Lidge saves.

4. 2000 White Sox
Here’s how long ago 2000 can seem: the top two starters on the ’00 White Sox were Mike Sirotka and Jim Parque.  Hell, for good measure, their next two were James Baldwin and Cal Eldred, and Kip Wells and Jon Garland rounded out the rotation.  Harold Baines was also on the team.  That may as well have been 600 hundred years ago.  This particular Sox team steamrolled through the regular season thanks to one of Frank Thomas’s best seasons (probably the most underappreciated player of this era next to Ken Griffey Jr.)  They were three-and-out by the Mariners.

3. 2004 Cardinals
It was the Cards’ first appearance in the World Series since 1987, so Cards fans were at least happy to be there.  Other than that, this would have to be #1.  The ’04 Cards annihilated everyone in their path that season, as every starter had at least 15 wins.  Losing Chris Carpenter prior to the postseason, along with a grueling NLCS, meant that Woody Williams had to start Game 1 of the World Series.  It was a sloppily played game that the Cards lost, and they never recovered.  Actually, they never freaking led the entire series.  I also have to mention Jeff Suppan’s stunningly  horrible baserunning decision in Game 3 that cost the Cards a run and led to the Busch Stadium crowd sitting on their hands for the remainder of the series (except for the 20,000 Red Sox fans that bought tickets for Game 4).  After the Sox finished the sweep, Cards fans couldn’t believe that the same team they watched destroy everyone all year looked like that.  It was pitiful…but not as pitiful as…

2. 2008 Cubs
The 2007 Cubs had that “glad to be there” feeling to them.  In 2008, they were all about getting the job done.  “This is the Year” proclaimed a special Chicago Tribune edition printed pre-postseason.  One James Loney grand slam later, the entire series changed.  The crowd at Wrigley, who had been going crazy even for 4th inning singles to extend Cub leads to six during July games, was about as dead as they come.  The Cubs never really threatened again, and bowed out to the Dodgers.  It was a mind-boggling showing, one that kept Cub fans shaking their head really even through this past season, but it still can’t compare to…

1. 2009 Cardinals
What the hell was that?  This one had everything from the previous entries combined.  It had possibly the best two pitchers in the NL.  It had a breathtakingly heartbreaking loss in the Holliday dropped fly ball that would have literally ended Game 2.  It had fans wondering if it was the same team that they had watched all season.  It had the energy sucked out of a stadium (after the Cards threatened in the first inning of Game 1 and didn’t score, they should have just forfeited because it was over).  The Cards were being picked by many to win the National League and some to win the World Series, and won as many postseason games as the Pirates.  It retrospect, it probably wasn’t a good sign that virtually no one picked the team with the NL’s best record to leave the first round.  It was like the 2006 Cards in reverse.  Of course, after 2006, baseball karma probably owed us one.

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